The Sev Tamatar ki Sabji is a vegetarian dish, originated in the households of India. It is an easy-to-cook recipe with the main ingredients being tomatoes or Tamatar and Sev, made from gram flour.
Relish this dish with roti or chapatti. It is a common preparation in regions like Gujrat, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The recipe surely triggers taste buds through its spicy, sweet, tangy flavors. The question that arises here is how this dish came into existence.
Origin
Sev Tamatar ki Sabji or Sev Tameta Nu Shaak is primarily a Gujarati recipe.
Sev tamatar became a part of Royal Rajasthani delicacies because of it neighbor, Gujrat.
It is a spicy curry with chunks of ripened tomatoes and Sev made from gram flour, or Besan.
Sev Tameta Nu Shaak, a Gujarati term, refers to cooked vegetables or Sev Tamatar Sabzi.
In the 19th century the Bhil tribe, an ethnic group of the western region of India conceived the concept of Sev.
Popularly known as Bhildi Sev or Ratlami Sev.
Bhildi Sev is made by creating a thick batter of gram flour, pepper, spoonful of carom seeds (Ajwain), and some clove for a unique flavor.
Around 2014 or 2015, this preparation received a GI (Geographical Indication) tag.
Ingredients
If you are preparing the Sev Tamatar dish for 2-4 people, then here is the list of ingredients, with quantity.
| Tomatoes | 6 medium sized fresh and ripened tomatoes are a must. It is necessary to use juice tomatoes for extracting the tangy flavors |
| Sev | You can purchase Sev from the market or else you can prepare the Sev by making a thick batter of Besan |
| Oil / Ghee | 2 tablespoon of Ghee or 3-4 table spoon of mustard oil / white oil, as per preference |
| Ginger | 1 inch ginger paste or grated / chopped ginger |
| Green Chilli | 2-3 medium sized chopped or slit into 2 halves |
| Coriander Leaves | A handful of fresh chopped coriander leaves |
| Tomato Puree | 2-3 tablespoon |
| Cumin Seeds | A pinch of cumin seeds |
| Salt | ½ teaspoon |
| Sugar / Jaggery | 1 teaspoon |
| Red Chilli Powder | ¼ teaspoon |
| Turmeric Powder | ¼ teaspoon |
| Coriander Powder | ¼ teaspoon |
| Asafoetida Powder | ¼ teaspoon |
| Cumin Powder | ¼ teaspoon |
| Water | ½ cup water added in two separate instances of the preparation |
| Fresh Cream | 1 tablespoon can be used for garnishing and presentation (not mandatory) |
Recipe
The sev tamatar recipe is easy to prepare within a short span of 25-30 minutes.
Start off by heating the oil or ghee in a kadhai/pan.
Ensure the heat is on medium to not burn the oil or ghee.
Next, add a pinch of cumin seeds and stir for a few seconds before adding the chopped or grated ginger.
Turn the heat from medium to low so the ginger does not burn and develops a light brown texture.
Now add the green chilies and sauté for a while.
Now add the spices one by one, starting from turmeric powder.
Add hing (asafoetida), red chili powder, coriander powder, cumin powder, salt as per taste, sugar, or jaggery.
Sauté the spices well before adding the tomato puree.
As the masala seems to dry up a little, add ¼ cup of water and stir well.
Now add the chopped tomatoes and sauté the mixture well till the chopped tomatoes soften a little.
The recipe is 80% complete.
Cover the pan for a few minutes so the tomatoes absorb the masala completely.
You will get to see a thick tomato curry kind of preparation.
If you think the curry is very thick, add the remaining ¼ cup of water and stir it well.
When the masala is almost ready, add the chopped coriander leaves, sauté well, and the Sev.
Add the Sev at the last moment before serving the dish, or it might become soggy.
Next, you can add some fresh cream on top of the dish for an aesthetically pleasing presentation.
Nutritional Value
We often try on various recipes but miss out on the nutritional value they add.
Here, the sev tamatar recipe adds little but significant nutritional value to your meal.
The tomatoes are obviously a source of antioxidants for your body.
Further, the Sev, made from gram flour, adds protein and carbohydrates to your diet with a pinch of fat.
A 100 gram of gram flour contains approximately 380 calories, 0.7 grams of saturated fat, sodium, and potassium, 11 grams of dietary fiber, and approximately 20 grams of protein.
Although all these nutritional values do not have a direct contribution to the meal.
Personal Experience
I had the opportunity to prepare the Sev Tamatar Sabzi by myself, and it was an experience.
Although I had the liberty to relish the dish on multiple occasions. Jaipur, Pushkar, Kota, wherever I went, I tried the dish in different restaurants, yet I crave for it.
On the very first instance, when the dish was prepared, my taste buds were aroused with the aroma of the recipe.
Visually, the dish was so appealing that I could not stop momentarily and savored the first bite with a piece of whole wheat flour chapatti/roti.
The aroma of the masala combined with the flavor of ghee was mesmerizing.
The chopped tomatoes oozed with the hot juice of the masala and quenched my thirst for a perfectly home-cooked Sev Tamatar ki Sabji.
Final Thoughts
I hope the experience I had with preparing and narrating the recipe with you will help you relish a similar kind of experience. If you are craving for a truly Indian vegetarian recipe, then you should definitely try this and let us know in the comments about your experience.
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